Cleaning thermal paste with isopropyl alcohol, step by step
Isopropyl alcohol for cleaning thermal paste: why 90 to 99 percent, which wipes, the CPU lid and cooler base, paste in the socket, liquid metal and drying time.
Delidded: CPU mods, cooling and old PCs that still earn their keep
The LGA 771 to 775 Xeon mod
Run a 45 nm Xeon in a Core 2 board: what the adapter sticker does, which chipsets cope, and how to get through the BIOS side. Five pages, in order:
Latest builds
Cleaning dust out of an old PC without breaking anything
Clear dust from an old desktop safely: power and static first, fans held still, heatsinks and PSU vents blown out, no vacuum inside, and what to inspect.
How much thermal paste on a CPU? Amounts by chip size
How much thermal paste on a CPU: a 4 mm bead for most desktop chips, more for long or large lids, a thin film on laptop dies, and how to check the spread.
Running retro Windows on old hardware: installers, drivers and what still works
Installing Windows XP, Vista or 7 on Core 2 era hardware: AHCI vs IDE mode, F6 drivers and nLite, activation today, driver archives and keeping the machine offline.
Sizing a CPU cooler by TDP: what the watt ratings do and do not tell you
What TDP, PL1, PL2 and PPT really mean, why cooler watt ratings are not a standard, and how to size a cooler for a stock or overclocked CPU, old or new.
Anti-static basics for home builders: what actually protects your parts
How much static it takes to hurt a PC part, what wrist straps, mats and bags really do, the plugged-in PSU debate, and a short checklist before every build.
BIOS, microcode and CPU lists
LGA 771 Xeon microcode
Why a desktop BIOS may not know your Xeon, and what to add.
Microcode in an AMI BIOS
Patching an AMIBIOS 8 image and flashing it back safely.
Microcode in an Award or Phoenix BIOS
The same job for Award and Phoenix-Award boards.
LGA 771 and 775 CPU list
Every quad-core chip of both sockets in one table.
Does my board support this CPU?
Model, revision, support list, BIOS version: the order that works.
CPUID, stepping and sSpec
Read the codes that decide which microcode your chip needs.
Modkit calculators
LGA 771 compatibility checker
Pick a Xeon and your chipset, get a pass or check strip.
FSB overclock calculator
Core clock, bus rating and memory speed from FSB and ratio.
Cooler TDP headroom
Estimate overclocked heat against a cooler rating.
PC power supply calculator
Add up an old build and pick a sensible supply size.
Parts bin picks
Parts links can earn us a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
- Tools
iFixit Mako 64-bit precision driver kit
Small Phillips, Torx and hex bits for laptops, coolers and cases in one magnetic handle.
Grab it on Amazon - SATA
Samsung 870 EVO 500 GB SATA SSD
A 2.5 inch SATA drive that turns an old desktop's boot and load times around, even on 3 Gb/s ports.
Grab it on Amazon - SPI flash
CH341A programmer kit with SOIC8 clip and 1.8 V adapter
Reads and writes 25-series SPI BIOS chips; check the 5 V signal-level issue first.
Grab it on Amazon - Cooler
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
A dual-tower air cooler for current Intel and AMD sockets.
Grab it on Amazon
Web design notes
Beginner lessons with code you can paste and run: the CSS tutorial (two small projects), the JavaScript tutorial and an online HTML editor to try them in.